


You Strike Me as a Tea Kind of Guy

by Sometimefallinginloveisanecessaryevil



Category: Loki - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Anxiety, Depression, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recreational Drug Use, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-07-10 08:37:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6975874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sometimefallinginloveisanecessaryevil/pseuds/Sometimefallinginloveisanecessaryevil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Loki, has a crush on the coffee chick,” Tony announces much to Loki’s horror. Surely, he could not know about how Loki could see her from her apartment every night, about their short and sweet conversations in the morning, about how he would jump at the chance to try any of her suggestions just to gain more knowledge about her. But it did not matter what he could not understand for he was Tony Stark and for all his loudness and brashness people would believe him and that would mean Loki would not be left alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homesick At Space Camp

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Notes: This is my first piece on this website, not my first piece ever because I wrote some shit way back when before I realized I was shitty at this. Yeah, lower your standard for this because I wrote some of it high, drunk, sometimes both and I’m dyslexic so enjoy. And proof reading is for wimps and non-lazy people. Embarrassing thank you to my bro, who listened to crazy ramblings about this tale for a couple of week. He may or may not read this: that’s future me’s problem. Enjoy feed my ego if you want: it is the only reason I’m writing/ putting this up here.

“By order of this great council I sentence you to be held on Midgard in exile to understand the pain you have caused their world. You will be watched by their protectors and be shown hospitality or lack thereof as seen fit by them. Asgard will not help you in any quarrel you may have with them as you are no longer a citizen of this realm.” Odin turns his eye on the prisoner “Do you have any last words?”  
“I guess it is better than being one of your relics, locked away.” He said in a cold tone  
“Loki, former prince of Asgard,” Loki took hold of the tesseract the other end being held by his brother as Odin spoke “I exile you from Asgard from now until the end of your days.”  
“Banishing both of your sons; what a great ruler you turned out to be” Loki hissed before a swift turn of the tesseract could allow the conversation to continue and the two were transported to earth. 

The first place he is taken to when they arrive is the lab or Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, they are alone and the lab is quiet so much so that they Thor speaks it startles Loki. He is still not accustomed to people speaking to him.  
“Why must you upset them like that?” Thor’s voice is small, uncharacteristic for him. “They love you….”  
“they love me? Bah,” Loki spits “they loved what they tried to make me, tried to show you could make a frost giant civilised” He shifts slightly on the uncomfortable metal stool, shackles on his wrists and ankles rubbing against his exposed skin; it stings slightly fuelling the rage burning behind his senses “Look at Thor, see how strong he is, see how brave he is, look at how the women fawn over him; be more like Thor, Loki. I was always in your shadow no matter what I done.”  
Thor opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by an ever energetic Tony and a meekly following Bruce.  
“Helllllooooooo” he sings, slinking into a wheeled chair and smoothly push himself over to Loki. He looks at him over the top of his sunglasses “How we doing big guy?” Loki is unsure if the question is directed at him or Thor. Thor responds  
“We are fine”  
“Can we get your bro out of these?” He lifts Loki’s wrists “It’s pretty barbaric, we got something better.” The shackles are removed and disposed of, Loki does not meet the eye of any of them but he can feel the tension in the room and the fearful eyes of Bruce on his person.  
They attach a small black box on a thick tie to his ankle and warned that if he tries to remove it they will be informed.  
“What is it?” Loki asks  
“an electronic tag” Bruce answers “Stops you from leaving the building and entering restricted areas.”  
“Well without two of us with you but if you are a good little prince we will see about getting it extended.” Loki has immediately decided he hated Tony. 

Loki has been given a small living quarters: double bed with fresh linen and towels in the drawers under it, a chest of drawers with Midgardian clothes mostly black and green (“because we know how much you love those colours and we want you to feel at home champ” Tony had said as if talking to a child who had been forced to move in with mum’s new boyfriend.) a bathroom filled with toiletries, a shower bath, kitchenette with a fridge and microwave. Some devices by the names of television and laptop (with restricted access of course)  
After Loki showers and tugs a pair of comfortable black sweats on, he stands in his darkened room noting that it feels stuffy, he opens the window. His window is next to his bed; it is large but only faces the brick building next to them. Lying in his bed, breeze coming in cooling his heated skin his ears catch the sound of someone (if it can be called that) singing, really they aren’t caring who hears them, out of tune and jumping around. Loki sits up looking out the window in attempt to catch them and ruin their obvious good mood. He slides the window open some more and catching them but not them; her. She is hold a mug filling it with some brand of spirit that Loki cannot make out, dancing on the stairs of the fire exit of the building in grey shorts and a vest that reads “Heisenberg” with a crudely drawn face of a man with a hat, sunglasses and moustache. He watches a she places a thin, white cigarette between her full pink lips, she lights it inhaling and then sings “So long live the car crash hearts, cry on the couch all the poets come to life, Fix me in 45”  
He leans out slightly more, learn what pain you have caused on this world his arse. All this mortal was doing was dancing in her underwear and singing. Grating his nerves; yeah she seemed like she was in a lot of pain at what he had done.  
The next thing he knows is there is a blaring alarm and in 30 seconds Captain America is standing in his bedroom demanding to know what he is doing. Loki swear he was just opening the window, leaving out the detail of wanting to ruin the night of the dancing Midgardian across the lane. He lowers his defences slightly when he sees that Loki isn’t attempting to escape as evidenced by the fact he has his hands raised and bare back pressed to the wall.  
“You can’t open the window too much, did Tony not say?” Steve asks  
“He only said that the laptop was restricted and this thing.” Loki points to his ankle bracelet.  
“Okay” Steve says “Just keep that in mind.” Steve points to the window.  
“I shall” Loki says closing the window slightly so as to stop the alarm  
Steve leaves the room and Loki peers out the window to look at the girl one last time but she has gone disappeared in to her apartment leaving just a lingering smell of something that isn’t quite a cigarette.


	2. Fantastic Posing Greed

Just like being at the castle Loki learns things, not just about mortal culture but about the Avengers themselves. He can see they are not truly happy which he isn’t surprised at; Thor pines after his lost mortal Jane. Steve is lost in a world he froze for Loki knows this because he seems as baffled at some things as Loki does. Bruce fears the beast that Loki almost unleashed once Loki knows this because every time they are in a room together (which is not often) Bruce watches him the way a dog watches his owner who beats him. Loki is tired of it more than anything. And Tony doesn’t sleep Loki knows this because he doesn’t either; not without lack of trying though but something is just off. So when he does go wandering late at night he sees tony tinkering with one of his toys or in the gym sometimes Steve is there, sometimes not.  
It is one of these nights when Loki is wondering around the parts of the tower he has access to that he finds Tony, Steve and Bruce in the living room watching a movie. He walks in but upon realising the room is occupied he trying to excuse himself but is too slow.  
“Hey Loki,” Tony greets, Loki bites the inside of his cheek and curses himself for getting caught  
“Good evening.” He greets back trying is best to sound indifferent to the situation  
“So since you have gotten here have you made an attempt to learn anything of our culture?” Tony quizzes cutting right to the point  
Loki thinks, he hasn’t really other than some book he had started called Game of Throne, Loki wonders referencing that would appease Tony “Game of Thrones- books.”  
Tony nods “Not bad. The TV series Steve he still needs to watch. What about movies?”  
Loki shakes his head; he had given up on Midgardian live media after stumbling on to something called ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ and decided that the mortals were all so dull and dim-witted if they idolised these people.  
“Well we are showing Steve the Hobbit, care to watch with us?”  
Loki figuring, he had nothing better to do agreed and watched the very long movie which he cared not much for. The entire time he could feel the tension in the room, the feeling of unwelcome that came with his presence in this prison. After all he figured out later in his room, was that not what this place was? It was just in a strange place with more space. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been outside, fresh air and sunlight.  
The next few days after he came to this realisation he became more agitated, pacing, snapping at people. Thor told him off and Loki swore if he had the energy he would have tried to kill him.  
It’s a Thursday night he knows this which is a nice change from Asgard but when he wasn’t sleeping it felt more mocking. Tossing and turning in his bed, he hears music again. That bloody mortal girl was at it, again? He huffs sitting up and looking out his window watching her with an intense glare remembering his initial annoyance with her the first night he was here.  
“I found a pile of Polaroids  
In the crates of a record shop  
They were sexy, sexy looking back  
From a night that time forgot  
Mhmm”  
She gyrated on the fire exit, drinking the last of the wine glass. She sang along to the words of the song as if she was swearing her loyalty to a higher power  
“We'll stay drunk, we'll stay tan, let the love remain  
And I swear that I'll always paint you, Golden days”  
She jumps up and down slightly, craning her head from side to side. Loki wants to pull open his window and snarl at her, make her feel like the main annoyance in his life. He goes to open the window as the song ends he opens it looking out and facing her, its then that he notices she has braced herself on the railing, drunk he thinks but then notices the unsteady, jittery movement of her shoulders and quiet sobs. The next song has started the singer has stated that there is no sun during an impossible year. She turns angrily telling the inanimate object to “Shut the fuck up.” She sits down on the stairs and drinks until the bottle of is empty which takes three large glugs before tossing it over the side of the railing letting smash on the ground below. She lights a cigarette and opens another bottle of wine before starting to sob again. Loki is frozen watching the display before him, he decides against shouting at her and slides back in to his room as silently as possible.  
He decides to go to the gym and work out some of this pent up aggression. It hadn’t worked the past two weeks but maybe day 16 would be the charm. Changing he grabs a towel peeking out one last time to see the girl still sitting out there in silence. Part of him just wished she would play some music; he had seen her cry before but the silence made it worse. Could she not put on that one about not caring or landing in Chicago? Those boys could cheer her up surely! Dismissing the thought any further he left his room, preparing himself for the workout ahead.  
Upon arriving at his destination Loki discovered he was not alone. Tony had taken a break from tinkering with his toys to work out some pent up energy that came with sitting in a lab all of your free time. It had not been the first time they had crossed paths on their insomnia induced wanderings neither had mentioned it the next day but they often didn’t speak they would just sort of acknowledge each other. The only time they had spoken was when Tony was messing around with the thing on his chest and had stopped his heart beat and needed Loki to give him the first aid kit in the lab so he could restart his heart. He thankfully did which Loki felt slightly relieved at due to the fact he was sure the rest of them would find a way to blame him for Tony’s untimely demise.  
Loki was not prepared to see anyone, let alone be in one of those situations again so he turned to leave.  
“No man it’s cool, I was just leaving.” Tony set the dumbbell aside “Listen though I did want to talk to you…”  
“Tony I’m really not in the mood.”  
“Fine, don’t talk just listen and let me make assumptions.” Tony looked at him “I think you feel trapped here which admittedly is bit of an over statement but I realise but what I’m wanting to say is that with with the co-operation of Steve and Bruce, Thor and I want to take you outside this building maybe make you feel better.”  
Loki nods and Tony claps him on the shoulder leaving the gym and Loki with a sense of optimism.


	3. I Want To Hate You, Half As Much As I Hate Myself

“No.” Steve says sternly  
After the gym last night Loki tossed for two hours before giving up and heading to the kitchen sitting at the breakfast bar he finished his book and began the next in the series, it was now around 8 Loki guessed and slowly the residential members of the tower were starting to float downstairs to break their fast. Bruce was the first to come in, he caught one look of Loki, grabbed a mug of coffee and left. Thor was next and after several failed attempts to start a conversation they lapsed in to a cold silence until Steve came in from his morning run and got himself some cereal and started to chat with Thor about some TV show they had started watching together. Bruce comes in for his second cup and gets swept up in the conversation deciding to sit and eat some toast with them. Tony sweeps in to the room around 15 minutes later looks at the almost empty coffee pot and say “Let’s go to the coffee shop, take Loki with us. My treat.”   
“No.” Steve repeats   
“But…”  
“No Tony” Steve groans tossing his spoon in to the remainder of his cereal knowing his nice breakfast was over because Tony would no doubt want to argue.   
Loki looks up from his book to Tony and then sends a shocked expression to Steve to ensure it was known that he had no involvement in the madness that was about to ensue.   
“Tony he is dangerous” Bruce chimes in   
“And he hasn’t given us a reason to trust him.” Steve adds to hopefully look less bias   
“He has given no indication of being dangerous.” Tony says “And other than the window incident on the first night he has made no attempt to escape.”   
“Tony he’s probably buying his time plus he snapped at me the other morning” Steve defended   
“Steve,” Thor starts “when you agreed to hold my brother in exile on your planet, you promised me that he would not be a prisoner forever. You promised me that if there was even a shred of what my brother used to be still in there you would help me bring it out in him. Please help me if all of us are with him I do not think he could escape not without his trickery.”   
“Bruce?” Steve asks   
“No man don’t” Bruce groans, tossing head back and covering his face with his hands “Do you even want to go outside?” Bruce asks Loki looking straight at him, in an almost desperate attempt to get him not to leave, it occurs to Loki that this is the first time Bruce has spoken to him directly since he had come here. The room is silent waiting for his answer, there is a swelling of anxiety coming to the surface and his voice cracks slightly from lack of use   
“It would be nice- I suppose.” He tries to make himself small not wanting attention directed to him right at this moment.   
“Fine, I can’t win this. If Tony wants something he almost always gets it.” Bruce said   
“Okay but if” Steve starts looking at Tony “if we do this we go when it’s not busy and it’s the coffee shop next block over. We go there and back, and he doesn’t start conversation with anyone without us there.”   
“Seems fair.” Tony agrees “Hey he can meet Amaryllis.” Tony bumps Loki’s arm with his own  
“Fine, the coffee shop quietens down after 11. If the slightest thing feels funny I’m dragging him back here.” Steve turns to Bruce “Bruce?”  
“Yeah, okay.” Bruce says unhappily  
As 11am approaches Loki is feeling slightly apprehensive, wishing he could take back his answer and give himself more time to prepare. He really had no idea where he was going, who this Amaryllis was, what they would be doing. Maybe he could have used the laptop device to research the establishment. At 10:30 he decides to place his fear aside and goes for a shower after he has showered he faces a new dilemma; what to wear. Trivial sounding to most but Loki was not sure what these people wore outside their homes. Loki looks over the selection of his clothes; would a shirt be too formal? Should he wear a jacket, did the weather call for it? He sighs this was harder than he initially thought. He settles on black jeans, black shirt, a green cardigan and a pair of shoes that Tony had referred to as converses, he had two pair one green, one black, he decides on the black pair. Combing his fingers through his still slightly damp hair, he makes his way down from his room. He finds the rest of them ready to leave, Tony beeps something over his ankle to ensure the alarm won’t go off as they leave.   
“You ready?” Thor smiles at him   
Loki throws up his frosty demeanour “It is a trip to a coffee shop, hardly something of importance.”   
Thor’s smile falters slightly and Loki feels a slight prang of guilt in his chest “Thank you though.” He whispers so only Thor can hear   
Thor’s eye fill with a kind warmth at this small display from his brother.   
It is an anti-climactic stepping outside; Tony makes the joke of   
“Huston that’s one small step for Loki, one giant leap for Loki’s self-interests.”   
Bruce and Thor laugh but Steve is being very serious about this whole matter watching him.   
“Why are you looking at me captain I don’t know where I am going.” Loki says   
“It’s this way.” Thor states proudly   
They walk along the pavement, Loki taking in the sites as it is very new to him. The air is fresh; a different kind from when it blows into his room at night. The sun feels a little too warm on his skin, most likely because he hasn’t felt it in so long.   
They walk in total a very quick four minutes before reaching their destination, they walk in to the coffee shop and Loki catches the scent of coffee, fresh baked goods and dirt. The décor is all dark wood, with hints of burnt orange in the form of cushions and rugs. The curtains were thick green some of them were drawn to combat the harsh almost mid-day sun. Plant pots, flyers for various event and art work of various origins were scattered around giving the place a relaxing feel to it.   
“Hello strangers,” a bright voice chimed from behind the counter, Loki looked up and saw her. He was surprised at her cheeriness after last night’s display of anguish.   
“Science bros,” Tony and her fist bump and she does the same with Bruce “Captin’” she salutes Steve who returns the gesture, “Norse God of awesome.” She nods at Thor “Who’s the new guy?” It’s his turn, he already doesn’t want to be known by her; not on this bases anyway. He feels he has already seen a very personal private side of her that he wasn’t meant to.   
“This is my brother Loki.” Thor says, this is it the moment where he finds out where he stands on this planet.   
“Hi,” she waves at him, with a smile, now he can finally get a good look at her. She is dressed in all black, with a black apron and black cap. Her name badge reads her name ‘Amaryllis’ and ‘manager’ which slightly shocks Loki as her hair is pink, her warm brown eyes are decorated with thick black eye liner and her eyebrow is pierced.   
“Hello” he responds so as not to look rude  
“So, what can I get you guys?” She asks   
“Cake selection and I’ll have a large cappuccino, Bruce?” Tony moves the question over to Bruce as she wrote down the order on cups.   
“I’ll have a black coffee.”   
“As will I.” Thor says   
“Captin’?”  
“What would you recommend?” Steve asks  
“Stepping out of the comfort zone: I like it.” She says “Well I’m testing out some cold brew tea and coffee. One of those?”  
“I’ll have a cold brew coffee.” Steve says   
“And for you?” she turns her attention to Loki again, the corner of her bottom lip sucked between her teeth. Cup held in her hand, pen cradled in her fingers, arms pressed to her chest.   
“I’m not quite sure.” He admits   
“You strike me as a tea kind of guy. I have a new oolong tea in. its sweet and floral but also milky like an oolong tea. More refreshing than a traditional oolong.” She says not meeting his eyes.   
“That sounds lovely thank you.”   
She breaks out in to a large smile, writes the orders down and takes payment from Tony. The cakes are packed in to brown boxes that have the coffee shops name on them ‘Insert name of coffee shop.’ And passes a couple of leaflets to Thor and Steve and giving them a gist of each event. Their beverages are made in quick time and Amaryllis says to Tony that her new training plan is working out better than previous ones. She hands Loki his drink and says “Hope to see you soon.”   
Loki steps outside again and takes in the subtle sound of tires on pavement and how blue the sky is. He is slightly saddened that he has to go back and doesn’t know when he will next see the outside world.   
When he arrives home he takes his tea to his room and sits with his books. It was then he noticed his cup had a message on it ‘I thought about telling you a chemistry joke but I didn’t know if I’d get a reaction’.


	4. Frame Me Up on Your Wall to Keep Me Out of Trouble

As it so happens his outings are to become something of a regular thing. Being offered every two or so days and eventually with less of them until it came to him and captain America are going on morning runs twice a week and him and Thor taking a walk around the block every evening. And as the weather began to get colder, relationships with the residence started to ease slightly.   
“Do you miss home?” Thor asks one night   
“No,” Loki answers honestly   
“Mother?”  
“Yes.”  
Thor nods “I miss home yet I fear going back.”   
“Why?”  
“Because I am still unsure of wither I could take you back with me. If you would even want to if you could.” Thor lets out a breath “I would much appreciate your guidance in the future.”   
“When you are king. If you brought me back, you would be hated by your court and it is a bad idea to be hated by your court when you are a young king.”   
“This is what I’m talking about but then I would be worried about you being here.” Thor said “The reason I am telling you this is because I need you to know I trust you and that means if you need to talk about anything I will be here for you.”   
They walked in silence the rest of the way home; that was the most honest conversation they had, home was never spoken of again.   
Around mid-October when they stepped outside for one of their evening walks, Thor let out a buff of air “It’s starting to get chilly. Shall we go to the coffee shop?”  
Loki was shocked, he was only able to attend the coffee shop if there was at least two of them but he nodded and they made their way there.   
The coffee shop was flooded with late evening light the reddish purple of the sky hitting the burn orange in the coffee shop making the whole place feel warm and inviting.   
“Hi guys,” Greets Amaryllis “What can I get you this fine evening?”   
“Well we have come to behold your lovely drinks menu and your delicious cakes.” Thor says “I’m going to look at the cakes you go ahead and order.” Thor went to the large cake stand and taking his time on selecting a sweet cake.   
“What can I get you?” She smiles at Loki something iridescent behind her eyes   
“What would you suggest?” Loki asks leaning on the counter  
“Well autumn is the season for pumpkin spice,” she shrugs “you seem to like tea so I could make you a pumpkin spiced chia latte.”   
“Any cake suggestions?”   
“Cake of the day is Victoria sponge; I thought I would test out some of the jam I made.”   
“You make the cakes?”   
Amaryllis rubs the back of her neck self-consciously “Yeah some of them, they are all my recipes but I have a bake team who make them on-site. Some mornings I’m up or someone calls in sick so I help out.”   
It was then that Loki realised he had never been here when she wasn’t which was odd considering himself and the others had become frequent customers for some months and even when they had brought him back something there had been a joke written on the cup that was always from her.   
“How many days a week do you work in here?”   
“Five usually but sometime it’s six or seven. I like to have at least one day off a week but sometimes it’s hard to leave something you invested so much time in building alone. Some days it’s only for a few hours, it’s not always full shifts; perks of being your own boss.”   
“You own this place?” Loki asked impressed as she wasn’t much older than 23 he guessed   
“Yeah, it was pretty rough at the start but I had help. She doesn’t work here anymore but she helped a lot.” Amaryllis looked down sadly   
Loki reached across the counter brushing his finger over her knuckles, he noted they were slightly dry. Amaryllis watched his fingers never meeting his gaze. It was odd he hadn’t really spoken to her except to ask what tea she would recommend, thank her for his order and politely decline when she invited him to events.  
“Your Victoria sponge; you made the jam?” Thor breaks the silence, Loki quickly retracts his hand and stands up straight.   
“What? Oh, yes. It’s my first time making jam thought I would test it out on customers.” She recovers smiling at Thor  
“Then I shall have a slice of that, I do not believe I have had this cake before.”   
“Make that two pieces” Loki adds “And one of these pumpkin lattes.”  
“Chia latte or normal latte?”  
“The chia one” Loki orders   
“I will have a pumpkin latte too. It is coffee isn’t it?” Thor asks   
“Yes”   
“Excellent”   
On the walk back Thor expresses his distaste for the pumpkin latte and states he does not understand why so many people were obsessed with it. “I mean it’s not even served in a pumpkin.” He declares at one point which causes Loki to laugh slightly. Thor much to Loki’s relief does not speak of the physical contact between him and Amaryllis which Loki understands to mean he did not see it. It was a risky move he just pulled what if Thor had seen and not reacted kindly? He isn’t even sure why he had done it, all she was to him was a coffee girl and a slightly annoying neighbour but it was always a comfort to him seeing her behind that counter with a big bright smile. At night she demonstrated slightly worrying behaviour but it was always fine the next morning when she was at her post ready to serve coffee and cakes.   
Loki heads to his room with his warm beverage and cake ready to enjoy a peaceful evening and a good night’s rest. He spots her out his window sitting on the fire escape smoking from a glass pipe. She must have left not long after they had. She smokes for about ten minutes stopping half way through to fill it again. He watches her over the top of his book as she stands up stumbling slightly before heading back in to her apartment via the window.   
It was only then that it occurred to him to look at his coffee cup for the joke on the cup which only he seemed to get. ‘I can't believe I got fired from the calendar factory. All I did was take a day off.’ He lets out a huffed laugh and smiles.


	5. Chapter Five- And I'm of good cheer Cause I've been checking my list

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas

The leafs soon fall off the tress and winter takes New York in its icy grip. Loki is thankful he is provided with a thick winter jacket and soon he is exposed to the tradition of Christmas. Tony suggests that they do a secret Santa, concept Loki and Thor are unfamiliar with but Bruce and Steve seem to support.  
“Well it works like this,” Tony starts “People in a group are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift to, we’ll stick names in a hat draw one out and you get that person a gift.”  
They draw names and Loki gets Steve and has no idea what to get him. It is at the coffee shop later that day that he laments his issue to Amaryllis.  
“What’s got you so deep in thought?” she asks, watching the two new employees over her shoulder to ensure they are making the coffees correctly and safely.  
Loki sighs “I have to get Steve a Christmas gift but I am unsure what to get him.”  
She nods understandingly  
“Any advice?”  
“You could get him TV box set. I know he has a list.” She suggests “I know he hasn’t seen Game of Thrones yet.”  
“TV is nothing but drivel.” Loki dismisses  
“Wow what?”  
“I tried to watch a show on your TV and it was pitiful, mortal worship vain loud women and their stupidity and fighting.”  
“Okay, it sounds like you watched some reality TV show, which I agree are brain dead hogwash but there has been a lot of marvellous TV; Game of Thrones being one of them.” She asserted, leaning on the counter looking up at him for a moment Loki’s eyes trailer down her body “Didn’t you read the books?”  
Loki had indeed read the books and if they were similar to books, Loki smiled to himself wickedly at the idea of the good captain getting flustered at the more lecherous scenes and themes.  
“I did” Loki admits  
She stands straight and passes Loki their order and scolds Tony “What are you showing him Tony? He knows not the wonders of TV.”  
“Or movies.” Bruce adds  
“Damn dude I gotta get you over for a movie night some time.”  
“I don’t think…” Loki starts but is interrupted by her  
“Aw come on daddy-o don’t be a…” and she draws a rectangle in the air with one finger from each hand, she winks at him and tell them to have a nice day. And begins the serve the little old lady behind them.  
Loki reads his cup as he leaves the shop with Tony and Bruce  
‘I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down’ Loki rolls his eyes in an amused way.  
The next thing Loki discovers is that he doesn’t need to leave the house to purchase gifts and can do it online. He orders season 1&2 of Game of Thrones and Tony approves. Loki gets it gift wrapped and is pleased at how very little he has to do. It arrives before Christmas and is under an ever-green tree decorated with lights, sparkles and bright colours, it honestly gives Loki a headache. They watch traditional Christmas movies, A Christmas Carol slightly unnerved him in its premise and he wondered why mortals let their children watch this. Amaryllis suggest The Nightmare before Christmas which confuses Loki slightly as it was very differ from the Christmas he had learned about, it makes slightly more sense when she shows them a picture of her Christmas tree which is small, black and has skulls and red bobbles on it.  
Loki catches himself humming some of songs from the movie; mostly he thinks this is because it is what is playing in the coffee shop whenever they are in. On the days leading up to Christmas mainly the 23rd and 24th there is a line out the door for people who have ordered cakes from the coffee shop and Amaryllis puts the bonus money to good use giving it back to her employees and donations to charities. She uses her bonus to get a tattoo which they get to see when they grab her for 2 seconds while she is processing the order from another customer.  
“Let’s see the ink!” Tony says to her as she hands the card machine to a precipitated young woman on the phone to her mother in law. Amaryllis pulls up the sleeve of her right arm to show a pin-up girl sitting on her shoulder winking at them. She pulls the sleeve back down quickly when she catches Loki looking at something other than her new ink.  
The image bothers Loki the walk back, yes he knew what he was supposed to be looking at but just as his nature would predicted he noticed things. He glanced at his cup; it was nice she made time to write joke to him every day, ‘What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic’ he shares the joke with the rest of the groups some laugh, some groan but all in all it plays to his advantage of easing conversation and his presence.  
On Christmas day they eat too much food and spend most of the day drinking. Thor has brought some Asgardian spirit to the party which him and Loki are all too happy to take part in. Around 3pm full of food and feeling tipsy from the booze the Christmas spirit has all but run out before Tony announces they should exchange gifts.  
Steve is impressed with his gift not that Loki was worried. Bruce gets a stress ball and some desktop brain teasers. Tony get some nice bottle of whiskey and Thor receives coffee. Loki oddly enough is taken to the lab for his gift.  
“As long as you tell us where you are going, when you will be back and you aren’t gone too long.” Tony cuts the tag off his leg “You can come and go as you please.”  
Loki looks at him to try and find if he is joking. “Merry Christmas Loki” Tony gets up to leave the lab, he is almost out the lab when he hears  
“I think I’ll go for a walk around the block if that is okay.”  
“Sure.”  
“Thank you Tony.”  
“Don’t thank me I wasn’t your secret Santa.”  
Loki puts on his coat and walks outside, the streets are empty and the air holds a peaceful stillness, he discovers that the coffee shop is open and while this is interesting it holds no need to go in but his body is compelled to walk in. The curtains are almost all drawn making the shop floor mostly dark for a moment he wonders if they really are opened but he notices the music is playing over the speakers a soft sad guitar tune  
“Does that make me cynical,  
There are no miracles and  
This is no miraculous life  
I savor hate as much as I crave love  
Because I'm just a twisted guy”  
“Sorry,” comes a voice from behind the counter it’s crackly and unwelcoming, he sees a hand and watches Amaryllis pulling herself from under the counter, she leans on it “I know the sign says four but I’m closing up half an hour early if you come back next working day I will give you a discount on your next order to make up for any grievances” She sounds slurred, it’s then she looks up to see him for the first time.  
“Hey Loki” she chirps “just ignore what I said.” She comes round the counter, ripping the sign off the door and flipping round the close sign. “What can I get you? It’s on the house.” She smiles at him but not her usually one.  
“I’m fine, thank you I only came to wish you a merry Christmas.” Loki said “Are you okay?”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Quite, are you okay?”  
“I’m fine. Want a glass?” she holds up an almost full bottle of wine. “I won’t tell if you don’t” she flirts  
Loki weighs his options; he should really take her home and make sure she doesn’t kill herself in some way in this coffee shop but right now he can tell she doesn’t want to be alone. He suspects that she hasn’t seen anyone other than customers today and sending her to an apartment would be just another smaller prison.  
“Yes please.” He answers hoping up on the counter and sitting cross legged, he shrugs off his jacket. She joins him in the same manor whipping off the apron and cap letting the pink dreadlocks spill to brush her shoulder, she places a mug in front of him and fills it with wine and tops off her mug. Loki and Amaryllis lapse in to silence; both enjoying their feeling of rebellion and the easing of their loneliness.  
“What do you think of Christmas?” Loki asked  
“I think it’s over-rated, too much pressure to have a good time.” Amaryllis muses  
“Don’t you have people you could be celebrating with?”  
“Nope” she pops the ‘p’  
Silence, they drink.  
“No joke.”  
“I’m in a cynical mood so it will be something sarcastic”  
“I don’t care”  
“When I see ads on TV with smiling, happy housewives using a new cleaning product, the only thing I want to buy are the meds they must be on.” She laughs then thinks “Oh fuck you don’t watch TV.” She takes the mug and finishes her drink “Which is why I got you this.” She hops off the counter and searches through her bag. Pulling out a wrapped box with a ribbon and tag the read ‘Loki’  
“I know it’s kind of weird but …” she lightly waved the gift at him  
“But?” he asks  
“You look like a guy who needs some kindness in your life.”  
Loki was shocked, he took box in his hand and thanked her. She shrugs it off as nothing “Got no-one better to spend my money on.”  
“I haven’t anything for you.”  
“Don’t worry about it. I give gift I don’t expect something back, plus you gave me jam feedback which was awesome.”  
Loki and Amaryllis locked up the coffee shop and Loki walked her home. She opens her apartment door and anxiety takes over her. She looks at Loki “Thank you for walking me home.”  
“It was no bother” Loki smiles at her  
“Can I hug you? Or is that weird?”  
Loki wrapped his arms around her, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Amaryllis shifts back slightly to kiss Loki on the cheek. Loki thinking Amaryllis was going to say something turn his head to her. For a few seconds their lips meet, Loki returns the kiss mostly from reaction. Amaryllis pulls away.  
“Good night Loki.”  
Loki clears his throat “Yes. Good night Amaryllis.” He starts to walk away, he about half way down the hall when he hears  
“Merry Christmas.”  
He returns to the tower, present in hand to a rather angry looking Steve.  
“That was a bad idea Tony” Steve is pissed  
“We didn’t know how long he would be gone.” Thor argues. Loki now wonders how long he spent in the coffee shop with Amaryllis and also how much wine he drank as he gauges his tipsiness.  
“It’s Christmas, can we discuss this tomorrow when we aren’t drunk.” Bruce states and with that they all depart to their rooms for the evening.


	6. Chapter six- You never wanted the nice boys anyway

He couldn’t leave the tower for weeks after that; they were all arguing among themselves deciding wither Tony was right to let Loki out on Christmas night. Their stances change sometimes and Loki so begins to understand that these people are not allies, they are his captors. They saw him still as this monster and it was laughable for him to think they would see him differently. After the two weeks he starts to grow anxious again not only for the fact he is worried about his future in this realm but for how he would appear by his new acquaintance Amaryllis at this stage since they had left things on a rather awkward note. He just hoped she didn’t think he was avoiding her.   
Loki spend the first week turning her gift over in his hands, fidgeting with it trying to figure what she could have possibly gotten him. She didn’t treat him like a monster, she didn’t walk around him like he was a bomb ready to explode at any moment, no she was wide smiles and bad jokes. White wine and acts of passion. And while Loki hated to admit it she was interesting. On the second week he loses him temper and rips the box open, casting away the name tag and black paper in to a waste bin, DVD’s he doesn’t take into much information from them and places them next to the TV assuring himself that they are a meaningless gift; had he not done the same to Steve. He can’t sleep that night and seeing no other option (that doesn’t involve moving into the unwelcome space of the rest of the tower) he pops one of the DVD’s into the laptop deceive. He has been given something very addictive he realises and has made his way through half the season of American Horror Story: Murder House in one night. Loki becomes fascinated with the real horror aspect of it all, the coping with life and Tate although this is possibly due to the fact he can heavily relate to the character.   
Loki sleeps away most of the day and ventures down to the communal kitchen later for something to eat. Feeling famished he finds Steve, bathed in evening light his back to the window broadsheet grasped in both hands, mug of steaming coffee next him the white ceramic mug had taken on a tinge of the sunsets orange purple hue, Steve’s face holds a look of deep concentration as he focuses on his article.   
“I can’t stand reading the news on those tablet things.” Steve says “nothing beats a real newspaper.” Steve folds up the board sheet and sighing   
Loki raises an eyebrow at him, Steve had made no indication of his presence before now or had made an inclination of trying to start a conversation. Loki wondered why Steve had opened with this useless piece of information about himself; he cared not for how Captain America like to read his news in the morning with a hot cup of joe. He took a smooth long slip of his coffee and Loki poured himself one and joined the dear captain at the breakfast island.   
“I bet your wondering why I told you that, it because guys like you always want to know information.” Steve said evenly “even if it isn’t important, the more you know the more you feel in control.”   
Loki didn’t respond   
“Look all I want to know is where the hell did you go?” Steve asked, it was a fair enough question he had wondered why someone hadn’t asked him it before.   
“I went to the coffee shop.” He answered honestly, he really had no reason to lie it wasn’t like he was planning to leave anyway; where would he go anyway? But this didn’t mean he was going to tell the full truth. “I saw Amaryllis, she had kept the shop open most of the day and we shared a drink, she locked up and I walked her home. She told me she had seen no friends or family that day and I felt like I was doing a nice thing by walking her home and wishing her a merry Christmas.” Loki Took a sip of his coffee playing off the whole event as nothing signification to himself. After all what did he care of some silly moral girl? Steve stared at him hard but saw no hint of a lie, he could of course just ask Amaryllis to confirm the events; it would also explain why she had asked about Loki.   
“Okay” Steve nods   
Loki awakens the next morning to a rather annoying Thor knocking on his door. Loki tumbles out of bed rather ungracefully and begrudgingly answered the door. Even through his veil of black hair he can see Thor smiling brightly at him.   
“Good morning brother, would you care to join me in a trip to the coffee shop?” Thor asks   
Loki almost can’t believe what he is hearing; he wonders if he is dreaming or if he hit his head falling out of bed.   
Loki is out of bed and ready to go in record time; had he been holding himself in higher regard he would have scolded himself for his excitement at the thought of going outside and while New York was not as beautiful as Asgard he enjoys being able to leave his prison even if it is not far from his dwelling. He takes a deep breath of the chilly winter air and welcomed the fresh tingle in his lungs and on the tip of his nose. Thor chuckles to himself lightly before clapping Loki on the back and they began their familiar route to the coffee shop.   
As soon as Loki steps in to the shop the familiar welcoming atmosphere free from judgement and hate that enveloped him was gone. Instead in its place was an icy awkwardness that made his heart race and stomach shrink. For the first time that day he felt regret and questioned if his brother would allow him to just leave now. Thor did not sense the same feelings that Loki was and instead took big heavy footsteps to the counter where the barista smiled brightly at him and took the orders for the tower Loki included.   
Loki busied himself looking at his feet and wringing his hand through the dark green scarf, he made the mistake of looking up just ever so slightly, catching the eye of Amaryllis. She looked as he expected her to unamused by his presence. He could hardly be surprised to see her here, it was he who had just disappeared off the face of the planet for almost three weeks. They break eye contact as soon as its instigated, Loki choosing to look at the floor. Had he been in Asgard no woman would be able to treat him like this but this was earth and they were lonely and defensive people. All she offers is a small smile and wave as she hands them two cardboard holders full of drinks. Loki and Thor carry one each, they walk in silence sipping occasionally from their beverages. It is when it strikes Loki to look at the cup for his customary joke of the day. But today the cup is blank, the light green design staring back at him in derision.   
Loki spends the rest of the day in his room cursing the fact he had lost something if value that he was unaware of at the time. He plays the DVD’s in the background giving him his only source of light when the sun disappeared at around 4pm. At 7 he notes that Amaryllis isn’t sitting on her fire escape smoking as she often is. He scolds himself again; what does he care of this foolish mortal girl? He was a God.   
Was  
He thought to himself the word repeating itself in his head. It is the correct tense, without his powers he was nothing. He was an inconvenience more than anything, he had not the ability or stamina to wield a weapon in battle that would anyway benefit anyone. Even if the rest of the occupants of the tower somehow managed to forgive him and trust him to accompany them on their missions. Loki spends the next few hours trying to possess some of the power he once wielded. All he managed was all that he already knew; some basic cloaking. He sighs and flops down on to the bed, the sheets feeling cool against his skin and the alarm clock in bright red letters reading 11:30 pm. He rests his eye but they are wide open as soon as he hears her voice coming from cross the alley way.   
“Lighters behind you.”   
Loki sits up and shuffles backwards so his back is pressed against the headboard and his shoulders is pressed to the corner of the room. He glances out of the window opening it slightly more to make the conversation much easier to hear between Amaryllis and the gentleman smoking on the fire escape.


	7. Chapter 7- With your backless black dress soaked to the skin, when it's said and down they're all scrambling

He moves to kiss her and Loki’s heart jerks slightly.  
She turns her head from him “Stop” she starts “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I invited you here Andrew. I have no interested in sleeping with you.” Loki was momentary stunted at Amaryllis’ bluntness.   
“You are such a cock tensing bitch.” The guy shouts   
“Excuse me?” she asks; this is his out his change to walk away but no he decides to stick his foot in his mouth.   
“I’ve been nothing but nice to you.” He says relaxing against the railing “Fucking bitches all the same.”   
“Oh yeah because I forgot” She’s changed, her demeanour is that of someone who wishes to strike with poison and malice. She cocks her hip placing one hand on it. Her eyes a steely and her expression is cold and uncaring. This is not how Loki knows her. He knows the crying girl on the fire escape, singing too loud and smile too bright in the coffee shop. “that you as a men have a right to my, a women’s body. How could if forget that my body is to please you and your kind? New flash asshole it’s my body and my right to do with it as I please as much a right as it is for me to own a gun and if your ass isn’t out my apartment in the next ten second, I will happily exercise said right.”   
He’s out that apartment faster than Loki can fathom, Amaryllis screaming abuse at him the whole way out the door. She emerges on to the fire escape in time to see the guy fall out the door, he looks up and shouts   
“Crazy bitch I’m gonna call the cops.”   
At this she is done with words and takes action, lacing her fingers around one of the necks of an empty bottle in one flued motion she hurls the bottle at him. He jumps to the side and watches as it smashes at his feet where he had been standing.   
“Psycho!”   
“You have no idea pal.”  
Loki is chuckling to himself unable to do anything else as he processes what he just witnessed.   
He declines Thor’s request to accompany him the coffee shop the next day knowing Amaryllis will not be there as he had watched climb on to her fire escape and inhale smoke from an odd looking vase. He remembers not from her odd object- he had seen her use it many time- but because she was only wearing shorts and a hoodie. He had thought to himself that she would freeze to death but she seemed unaffected by the cold winter that had stilled today.   
Loki busies himself with wandering the tower, watching the TV and casual conversation with the rest of the occupant but as the day waned the occupants went to their bed ready for another night of fitful rest. Loki was still in the midst of an insomnia interlude and found himself sharing the tower with the only other person who shared his plight. Loki finds tony watching avenger’s footage and muttering to himself about something being wrong. Loki has never met another being with such a glutton for self-punishment.   
“Crowd control.” Tony shouts “But what can I do?”   
“Can’t there be more of you?” Loki interrupts  
Tony spins around startled “We aren’t exactly the high school ball team. It takes development, training and time.” Tony chuckles   
“What if you took the human element from it?”  
“I could develop the suits to maintain the crowd, run algorithms to see what damages could come next and move people to safety as such.”   
Loki smiles easily “I’ll leave you to it then.” 

When Thor offering him a chance to accompany him to the coffee shop he is reluctant to go not wanting to face her. He no doubt assumed that she was spurned by his absence after Christmas but his reaction to her in the arms of another man. He feared it was a one-sided attraction and he did not want to disrupt the tentative friendship that may already be in jeopardy.   
His anxieties were subdued when he and Thor entered the empty coffee shop and were greeted by the bright smile of the pink haired barista but she seemed off, Loki couldn’t quiet put his finger on it.   
“Hey guys, how are you?” she greeted   
“Very good. And yourself?” One thing Loki could always count on; Thor liked to talk. Loki was momentarily relieved at the idea of not having to face an awkward silence.   
“Fine” the smile and the voice wavered, she’s a bad liar. “What can I get ya?” she quickly changes the subject and Thor engages ordering for both of them before his greedy eyes groom over the cake case. Correction she was a bad lair to him.   
Amaryllis looks away from him as she makes the beverages and Loki steals glances, searching for conversation starters. If he was back on Asgard this would be easy, he scolds himself. Yes great fucking opener; ‘Hey Ami, fun fact about myself I am an exiled prince who tried to take over your planet’ he supposes it would about compare to Violet finding out about Tate.   
“Thank you for the Christmas gift.” He blurts out feeling rather foolish   
As if awaken suddenly Ami shakes her head, dispensing the depressing white noise that had set in her mind “Did you enjoy it?” an edge of desperation in her voice   
They are interrupted by Thor’s cake order which Ami bring to fruition with a cheery demeanour. Loki gathers himself worried that his answer could mean the difference in her mood tonight, he wished he did not have to bear witness to her muffled sobs like he had done the last few nights.   
Thor pays and begins to exit the café, he assumes Loki is following, Loki scoffs has the dim-witted prince already resigned him back to his shadow.   
“I seem to have found a slight obsession with ‘horror’?” he looks to her for conformation which she eagerly nods “but alas there is so much to wade through I would appreciate some guidance.”   
Flirting is like riding a bike for him, a moment of boldness and it comes back with ease. Thor at this point has realised that Loki is not by his side.   
“Well I could help with some suggestions or I could loan you a few of my DVD’s…” she trails off as she notices his lingering gaze.   
Thor clapped Loki on the shoulder dragging him from the counter and bidding Ami farewell again.  
When they hit the fresh air of New York city Thor’s expression was infuriated “I do not trust you.” And the rest of the trip was silent.


	8. Chapter 8- No, it's nothing wrong with me

“Mr. Stark has asked that you make your way to the front entrance.”   
Loki is pulled from his day dream as he focuses on something other than the joke on the paper coffee cup ‘How do people make new mates? Asking for a friend.’  
Loki thinks to snap at the machine but realises it could be another venture in to the outside world and did not want to jeopardise the little freedom he has. As he made his way downstairs he seethed at himself at how he had gotten himself in to his situation. He saw no one in the front lobby as he approached, confusion gripped him but was quickly cut short by the ringing of the doorbell.   
“Could you grab that?” Tony shouts through to Loki and once again confusion tugged at him. Could he even open the front door? When he did open the door, even more questions flooded his mind as before him stood damp, slightly nervous Amaryllis.   
“Hey” she breathed   
Loki swallows hard before realising it is raining outside and he quickly invites her in. He takes her coat hanging it up.   
“Such a gentleman” she smiles  
Moving to the next room she is greeted by the rest of the occupants before being ushered in to the next room by Bruce.  
Loki is now under the stern gaze of Thor and Steve while Tony grins like a kid who got away with stealing cookies.   
“What is this?” Loki asks dumbfounded   
“We think you should have the opportunity to make friends given that you haven’t tried to escape or kill us.” Tony says   
“I think it will be good for your conscience to interact with the people you hurt on this planet” Steve states callously   
Before Loki can protest Thor is ushering him in to the living room to watch a movie with Amaryllis. She shifts up on the couch patting the spot next to her indicating Loki to sit next to her. The captain’s words replay in his head and he suddenly feels guilty sitting next to her. His thoughts are pushed away as she smiles at him asking him which movie he had preference for.   
They watch a movie called ‘Paranormal Activity” which has everyone jumping from the scares, Loki and Amaryllis giggle lightly as the come down from an adrenalin spike. Half way through the second movie and Bruce is three beers dozing, Tony has disappeared and Thor snores next to Amaryllis causing her to scoot close to Loki. Loki’s eyes drift up her legs, black knee-high socks giving way to milky white thigh then meeting the hem of the short dress she was wearing. Little black dress teasing at the slightest slice of cleavage.   
Loki suddenly thinks about how long it’s been since he had kissed someone, been with someone, hell fucking touch someone at this rate.   
All too soon the movie ends and Amaryllis takes her que to leave, she hugged him before departing lasting slightly longer than was necessary. Loki feels a twinge of jealousy when Steve accompanies her home to ensure her safety.


	9. Chapter Nine-  Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness 'Cause all of our moves make up for the silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got nothing written after this.

Loki swears he is going crazy but then again, he is sure that Ami never used to wear short skirts and stocking and he isn’t the only one that has notice he notes as he looks over at his brother and Tony gawking at her as she bends over to pick out a carton of fresh milk from the low fridge. Although Loki will admit she has a fantastic arse.  
“So what are your plans tonight boys?” she smiles at them bringing them back to their sense  
“Well Thor and I are attending a gala tonight.” Tony states proudly “You got any plans Loki?” Loki felt toyed with, Tony knew he would spend the night reading in his room, staring at the  
Tony and Thor look at him expectantly- he didn’t even know he could make plans without his guards with.  
“I guess we’ll have to reschedule movie night” He states dumbly thinking it is the right answer. There is a pregnant silence between the four and Loki wished the ground would swallow him whole. He glanced over to Ami who looked like a kicked puppy; had these pathetic movie nights meant as much to her as they did to Loki.  
Tony’s phone rings and he steps away to take it, Thor is chatting with a little old lady who Loki has learned is a regular at the shop. Faced with the object of his desire Loki searches frantically for a topic of conversation. He sips from his drink noticing the joke of the day  
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.  
“Still on for movie night?” He asks looking over the top of his cup at her, noticing the slight hitch in breath.  
“Sure” she breaths  
Thor bid farewell to the old lady and Tony finished his phone call and after staying their goodbyes to Ami they departed. Loki saw that he was the only one who she had eyes for.  
“We don’t need them to have fun” he winked “surely we have proved that.”  
Ami’s eyes widen and she bites in to the plump flesh of her lower lip. 

The guests of honour have to arrive early for their big gala and as Loki waves off the whole team, he realises the fun he could be having to night. Anxiously he wondered if his messages he’s sending are being reciprocated. Another reason for waving off his guards; to play a trick on Tony’s toys, with the little magic he was able to summon a simple illusion to trick the door to think it remained closed while allowing Loki to come and go as he pleased.  
As soon as he lays eye on Ami he knows his was getting the right vibe from her, she was stunning.  
“Good evening” Loki greets  
She smiles brightly at him “Hey.” All pervious anxieties of him not answering the door or bailing on her in some way vanishing  
Loki escorts them through to the living area, the usual setting for movie night when Ami asks a profound question that had not occurred to him.  
“Can you work Tony’s DVD player?”  
Loki began to scold himself for all the time he had spent fussing about his appearance and what midguardian rags were correct for the occasion without making him seem desperate he was a prince after all, he didn’t need the approval of some coffee wench. He hadn’t figured out how to work the damned device and he wasn’t about to ask the robot in the ceiling for help.  
“because I can’t” Ami giggled nervously  
“Come to think of it this is a little big for the two of us,” Loki smiled casually moving the situation to somewhere where he had more control. 

Loki set the two glasses on the coffee table next to the laptop, the disk already loaded as Ami switched off her phone. She placed the phone in her bag she smiled up at Loki as he sat next to her. Although feeling he was far too close to her, he truly got the sense of how fragile these mortals are.  
“What is this?” Loki asked  
“Breaking Bad,” Ami poured two glasses of wine “trust me you’ll be hooked after the first episode and I brought the whole set so if you like it you can keep watching it.”  
Ami was in fact correct Loki was hooked after the first episode if only for answering his questions like how what Ami described as a TV marvel starts with its main character spending half of the episode in his unflattering underwear or maybe it was…  
“Mind if I pop outside for a smoke?” she says with ease two glasses of wine making her body feel slightly more at ease.  
“I shall join you”  
The cold night air nipped at them both causing a subconscious reaction the made them move closer together. Ami lit up and smoked in silence letting the alcohol make him paranoid Loki searched for a topic that would fill the silence; the episode would only make him ask questions that she will wave off in the name of spoilers, surely, she wouldn’t want to talk about work. The scent of her presumed cigarette catches his nose and before he can engage his brain he suddenly blurts out  
“Your cigarette smells different from most others.”  
She coughs, slightly shocked and he cringes at his sudden burst  
“Yeah,” she starts off giggling slightly “That’s because it’s not a cigarette and is also not technically legal.”  
“How is something ‘not technically legal’?” Loki looks down at her  
“Okay it’s illegal.” She whispers she drawing in close to him looking him deep in the eyes with a mock serious look and tone she said “now keep your voice down.”  
He likes this, how close she is, that slight streak of rebel emboldened he plucks it from her fingers taking a few draws of his own and managing to retain his dignity by not coughing. He enjoyed the idea of his lips being on something that had previously been on hers, he thinks back to Christmas they hadn’t spoken of it didn’t mean it was off the table. They pass it back and forward until it is finished on the last draw she takes Loki’s chin lightly in her hand and directs their mouths a few centimetres away he opens his mouth lightly as they exchange the smoke.  
In the room the second episode starts and the process starts again; the silence, the wine and being far too close to each other but this time instead of an anxious energy they couldn’t stop the slight brushes and when she rests her head on his shoulder he snakes his arm around her waist. She bites at her lower lip, she is nervous Loki can feel it, rejection is a hard blow to her self-esteem she needs him to make the first. She slips her wine and Loki nuzzles in to her neck kissing it lightly extracting a light moan. When she finishes the wine, he places the glass on the table and captures her lips on his moving quickly to deepen the kiss and lay them down on the sofa. The kissed hard and passionately then softer enjoying the sensation of learning how to kiss someone new.  
“Bedroom”  
They make their way there discarding Loki’s shirt and belt and Ami’s dress, on his bed he takes her in, lace underwear and bra, stockings, a garter belt he wonders if she wears this all the time, under her barista uniform or if this is especially for him before he can ponder anymore she pulls him on top of her and kisses him. His hands explore the rest of her squeezing on the amble bosom leading to the removal of the bra. Panties rubbed until wet, he’s proud he still hasn’t lost his touch. She runs her hand over his pale chest, he’s cool to the touch but she can feel the under lying strength, the tort of muscle at each grind of his hips providing titillating pleasure to each party.  
“Do you have a condom?”  
Loki shakes his head, she excuses herself and Loki watches her naked form enjoying the view. She returns with a wrapper and after the formality is taken care of she places herself on her hands and knees letting Loki enjoy the view of her arse. He teases the tip into her entrance, savouring the warmth around his length. She pushes her hips back wanting more of him and he was all too happy to oblige keeping a steady rhythm to pace himself, he wanted to enjoy this, Ami mewled and moaned enjoying the feeling of him inside her, she could tell he was experienced.  
“Please” she begged “faster.”  
He picked up the pace until he was chasing his own orgasm, trusting almost recklessly into but she didn’t protest the opposite she chanted his name feeling her own pleasure began to swell. Loki could taste the salt from his sweat forming on his top lip, he licked at it as his fingers dug deeper into her hip. He swore lightly under his breath as he took the final stokes of his pleasure out on her. Ami stroked her clit finishing around Loki’s member.  
They collapsed on to the bed, Loki discarding the used condom, Ami laid her head on his chest and Loki allowed himself to wrap his arms around her. They dozed off warm, satisfied and for once not alone.  
Ami watched the handsome man sleep, he seemed to be so at peace she knew he did not sleep well from a number of the team whom complained about his nightly wonderings. When Steve had confronted her about Christmas she understood it was out with his control but that didn’t make her any less pissed at him however his smile and charm had won her round yet again. She couldn’t help herself anymore she was lonely and he was too. All this was; was an easing of loneliness for both of them and by fuck did they need it.  
She kissed him lightly on the cheek before redressing quietly and leaving. She picked up the bottle of wine still left over and swigged it absent-mindedly as she walked home. Ami wondered if she would see Loki tomorrow; she guested he would treat her differently now that this had happened.

**Author's Note:**

> Please be patient with me when it comes to updates, I am currently trying to work two chapters in advance from the chapter posted. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it.


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